Google and Fitbit

[SunsetRunner]

This is not a suggestion to the product line of Fitbit, but instead a STRONG suggestion NOT to allow this to go through:

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/28/google-may-acquire-fitbit/

I don't trust Google's (lack of) privacy policy, and I question continued support of my phone platform of choice (Apple iPhone) if Google were to purchase Google.

Just my two cents' worth.

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity

[Melissa517]

Thank you!

[ck10863]

I hope Congress kills the deal or I will be tossing my fitbit . Sorry- but I will not share my data with Google and all of the Trolls they support with out free data. 

Perhaps we should ask for free service and fitbits if they want to sell and use our information?

Not worth it- selling out to Big Brother=no more Fitbit for me!

Ciao~

[IceCold]

What a pisser! I'm a big Fitbit fan but if this actually happens I think I'm out. It'll be expensive replacing the 4 trackers that I've bought for self and family with Apple Watches but privacy is worth it.

[Odyssey13]

@IceCold  you think Apple has more privacy? We're all connected. You can't go to Walmart without being on their cameras inside the store and in the parking lot. Each transaction at the cash register you are on camera and nothing is hidden. If you like your Fitbits, why not wait until we all know more about what's going to happen. 

[Rich_Laue]

Both the DOJ and the EU have major concerns on this merger. 

[SunsetRunner]

Agree completely with WavyDavey. Notice how FITBIT says if acquired they will "give affected users notice before transferring any personal information to the new entity" , not  "ask users for permission to transfer...." I cannot imaging how this is not a violation of HIPAA laws that prohibit electronic transfer of health information without user consent.

I have long since ditched all Google related products and services, and although I like my FITBIT, it will be one more if the acquisition goes through. But as others have mentioned, there’s no reason to expect that historical Fitbit data will not be transferred in the sale, so Google may have already got me.

[Rich_Laue]

Like with several other companies that Google acquired recently. I suspect that Google will only have access to metadata and not individual data. 

[WavyDavey]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

Agree completely with WavyDavey. Notice how FITBIT says if acquired they will "give affected users notice before transferring any personal information to the new entity" , not  "ask users for permission to transfer...." I cannot imaging how this is not a violation of HIPAA laws that prohibit electronic transfer of health information without user consent.

I have long since ditched all Google related products and services, and although I like my FITBIT, it will be one more if the acquisition goes through. But as others have mentioned, there’s no reason to expect that historical Fitbit data will not be transferred in the sale, so Google may have already got me.

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It's my understanding that fitness trackers don't fall under HIPAA. Fitbit does have a business-to-business program called Fitbit Wellness that does interface with healthcare companies, and is HIPAA compliant. It's complicated, but that's how I'm taking it.

I don't see this as strictly a Fitbit issue. The proposed merger is just bringing it to light. As fitness trackers and smartwatches of all makes become more sophisticated, the line between personal fitness and health data becomes more difficult to delineate.

[SunsetRunner]

I have seen that article too. It says "When consumers are collecting health data for their own use, HIPAA doesn’t come into play". The operative part of that statement is "for their own use", not for use by the parent corporation of the wearable device. The HIPAA laws were create to protect private medical/health data but have obviously not kept pace with technology and need to be updated. I have written to my congressmen on the need for this which is all one can do. 

I will gladly continue to use my FITBIT or wearable if I have the option to opt out of having my data shared in any way.

[WavyDavey]

I believe HIPAA compliance was the reason that Fitbit Wellness was created in the first place.

https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2015/Fitbit-Extends-Corporate...

https://www.cio.com/article/2988280/fitbit-is-now-hipaa-compliantis-your-business.html

It seems unlikely to me that companies of this size would accidentally or purposely not understand and comply with these laws. I think what you may be getting at is a desire to increase the scope of protection for PHI, which is a whole other matter.

[SunsetRunner]

Definitely hoping the Department of Justice steps in here. Google buying Fitbit is an aggressively anti-consumer decision. With their high likelihood of shuttering/retiring Fitbit's product line in favor of new Google-branded replacements, 30 million devices are at risk of becoming e-waste. Meanwhile, our data is at risk of being acquired by a company with an extremely shady history of attempting to acquire health data without patient/user permission.

[Rich_Laue]

Google shutting Fitbit down seems very unlikely since Google is more interested in the meta data to enhance their features. 

It is the same with Waze, now owned by Google. Waze users have seen no to very little changes. The biggest is the ability to log issues and police by voice. However Google map users have noticed many chages/imprivemts from the buying of Waze. 

[RoxieMuzic]

I voted today with my wallet on this issue, bought a Garmin Fenix 6S Sapphire, spendy little devil, but worth the ability to sleep at night since Google will not be mining my data in the future.  

Please Fitbit read this message, it was a $1,000+ expenditure, you could have had this money over a period of time, but only if you had kept integrity in your hardware, firmware, software and your ownership.  You lose!

[Rich_Laue]

We will have to wait and see, but apparently the stock holders disagree with you. 

As for security of your data, the agreement is that Google doesn't have interest in it and Fitbit will not be providing this to Google. Metadata that does not from single users is a different story. 

[WavyDavey]

In the summer of 2016, Google quietly dropped its ban on personally-identifiable info in its DoubleClick  ad service. Google's privacy policy was changed to state it "may" combine web-browsing records obtained through DoubleClick with what the company learns from the use of other Google services. You can see the lines they crossed out on their privacy policy.

ProPublica  states that "The practical result of the change is that the DoubleClick ads that follow people around on the web may now be customized to them based on your name and other information Google knows about you. It also means that Google could now, if it wished to, build a complete portrait of a user by name, based on everything they write in email, every website they visit and the searches they conduct." 

https://www.propublica.org/article/google-has-quietly-dropped-ban-on-personally-identifiable-web-tra...

[Rich_Laue]

Ive read about, and have experianced with things mentioned with OK Google has affected the type of ads presented to the user.